Suspension of glass doors



Oct. 29, 1940. ERA-TH 2,219,683

SUSPENSION OF GLASS DOORS Filed May 11, 1958 2 Shee ts-Shee'c l //VVE/VTOR 65026: E'Een-rH /-7 f TOR/V5345.

- Patented Oct. 29, 1940,

susrsnsron or GLASS nooas George F. Erath, Queens Village, N. Y.,assignor.

to Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, Allegheny v County, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Application May 11, 1938, Serial No. 207,219

6 Claims.

suitable for use as doors in passageways of buildmgs.

The main object of the'invention is to provide a large, swinging closuresuitable for use as a door in a building and comprising a single panel'of glass, which panel is self-sustaining upon its hinges.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel method ofsecuring the hinges to a door of the foregoing type.

These and other objects of, the invention will be apparent fromconsideration of the following specification and the appended claims.

Doors for dwellings have heretofore been constructed of wood, sheetsteel or-similar material. In some cases panels of glass were insertedin the doors to provide for the transmission of light through the dooror to obtain ornamental eflects. In such doors, the glass ,merely closedan opening in the swinging member and was supported and reinforced bythe latter, and little or no localized stress from the hinges was placedupon it.

Apparently, unitary doors comprising an unsupported panel of glass whichacted as the movable barrier element and which also transmitted its ownweight as well as other stresses to the hinges was not contemplated.Probably such doors constructed of the same quality of glass as theglass insert panels would have been too fragile to be practicable.

vision of a door comprising a single panel of the doors constituting thesubject matter of the present invention is obtained by heating ordinarysheet glass at a temperature of 1100 or 1200 degrees'F. and thensuddenly cooling it by plunging it into oil or by the direct applicationof ablast of cold air. Glass so treated assumes a mechanical strengthalmost equal to cast iron and is quite springy, or resilient. It is alsoquite capable of withstanding severe impacts or blows and severemechanical stresses. If for any reason the door is broken, the glassinstantly shatters into small rounded'fragments which are quite harm-The present invention contemplates the proless if they should strike aperson adjacent to, or passing through, the doorway.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may now be had tothe accompanying drawings in which t 5 Fig. 1 is a fragmentaryelevational view of a building wall in which are disposed a pair ofdoors which are constructed in accordance with the provisions of thepresent invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view through the hinges of adoor embodying the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view in a plane at right angles ofthe door, of one of the hinge mountings. I 15 In the form of theinvention illustrated in the drawings, a building wall .11, composed ofmasonry or any other suitable building material is provided with anopening in which are disposed the doors l2. These doors preferablyggnsist of single panels of glass, tempered to a 'strength approximatelyfour times that of untempered glass. The panel may be of substantiallyany preferred thickness- However, a range of' about to 1 or 1%, inchesis preferred. A satisfactory thiclmess for most purposes is about inch.

Various forms and types of hinges may be employed in mounting the doors,but in view of the, peculiar characteristics of the tempered glass panelin most instances it is necessary to provide specialized forms ofsecuring devices for connecting the hinge to. the panel. The drawingsillustrate a satisfactory form of hinge and the method of securing it tothe panel. These hinges include pins projecting from the top and bottomedges of the door panel and rotating in suitable bearings in the floorand the lintel of the door. The top hinge structure l5, includes a pairof side plates 16, gripping opposite sides 40 of the glass panel and acasting ll, of a thick ness corresponding to the thickness of the glasspanel and providing a spacing element between the plate l6. This castingis secured in a notch l9, formed at the upper corner of the. glass paneland having a rounded comer 20. Plates I6 andcasting I! may be' securedtogether by welding or by bolts and the mechanical pressure of theplates upon the sides of the glass panel may be relied upon to hol'd'theparts together. .How- 50 ever, the means for securing thev panelillustrated in the drawings comprises a bolt 2|, threaded through asleeve 22, both of which have head's', 23. The bolt andsleeve aresecured in open ings in plate 'lt'wh'ereby upon tightening'of the bolt,the plates will be caused to grip the glass. The edge of the notch l9is'provided with a semicircular recess 24 extending from face to face ofthe panelto receive bolt 2| and sleeve 22, and

ment in the direction of extension of the upper edge of the plate. Thebolt thus provides a key element for holding the assembly in place uponthe panel.

It is important to note that the corner 20 of the recess is and notch 24are rounded to a curvature having a radius at least equal to half thethickness of the panel; Any holes in the glass must-have radii at leastequal to half the thickness of the glass panel. It is found to beimpossible to provide a glass panel of tempered glass possessingsatisfactory stability, if radii of lesser value are employed.Semi-circular recesses 24 may be replaced by holes fem-med in the panelsat some distance from. the edge. Casting I1 is hollowed as indicated at24 to receive a plate 21 which may be secured in position by welding,riveting or bolting to the side of the casting or in any otherconvenient manner and the plate at each end is provided with adownwardly-extending boss 28 which extends into a well2l formed in thecasting 21.

. This-boss is bored as indicated at 30 to receive 40 boss 32 into arecess 43 in pin 3|. The lever at its opposite end is formed with a slot(not shown) to receive a grooved portion 46 of a pin 41 which isthreaded through the plate 33. At its lower end, the pin is formed witha slot 48 within which the end of a screw driver may be inserted forrotating the pin to actuate the lever up or down to raise or lower thepin 3|.

At the corresponding lower corner the panel is notched as indicated at50 to receive a casting II substantially corresponding to the casting I!already described. The lever or arm 52 is mounted in hollow 53 in thiscasting and is secured to the sidewalls of the hollow by welding or byother convenient methods. A square recess formed in the lever adjacentto its rear end receives the square stem 54 of a vertically disposedhinge pin or shaft 55. At its lower extremity it is connected to asuitable actuating means for rotating the shaft to swing the door backto closed position after it has been opened. Such mechanism alsoincludes suitable dashpot mechanism for checking the rate of swing.

'These various mechanisms are concealed beneath the floor or sill 51 andsince they do not constitute a portion of the present invention it isnot deemed necessary to describe them in detail. Casting Si is clampedin position by means of side plates ill corresponding to plates l6 andheld in place by a sleeve bolt 6| identical in design and mounting tothat described in connection with the upper hinge.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that top hinge pin 3|and shaft 55 need not be disposed directly in the plane of the doorpanel. It is, of course, possible to provide laterally orrearwardly-extending arms upon the casting l1 and casting II and tosecure suitable hinge pins in these openings. The method securing suchhinges, of course, would substantially correspond to that shown in thedrawings. It would involve the provision of notches at the. corners ofthe doors or at other suitable locationsalong the rear edge of the doorsadapted to receive a specing body corresponding to thecasting I! orcasting I! of sufllcientrigldity to support the hinge pin and beingprovided with suitable side plates corresponding ot the plates I.

It is again emphasized that indentations or notches formed in the doorpanel must be suitably rounded at the corners along lines of curvaturehaving radii equal at least to half the thickness of the door panel.However, it is possible to obviate the.necessity of recesses withrounded angles by clipping away a triangular portion at the corner by asingle straight out. Notches 24 may then be formed in the oblique edge.Holes or openings formed in the panel must have a diameter at leastequal to the thickness of the door and must be spacedfrom the corners ofthe panels a distance at least equal to 6 times the thickness of thepanels. If these rules are not observed spontaneous shattering of thepanel is likely to occur.

' Doors comprising single panels of tempered glass are highly suitablefor use in many modern architectural designs. They are perfectly clearand for that reason are quite desirable for use in stores or in thelobbies of theaters or other places where it is desirable to display thein-. terior or a portion of the interior of a building from the street.They are also very strong and will resist blows which would shatter anordinary glass door. Furthermore, they are perfectly safe and ifbreakage does occur, the small rounded fragments prevent the possibilityof injury to persons or damage to property. Likewise, they are resistantto fire and resistant to corrosion and weathering.

Although only certain preferred embodiments of the invention have beenshown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat numerous modifications may be made therein without departure fromthe spirit-of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A door structure comprising a monolithic plate of glass havingvertical and non-vertical edges disposed in intersecting relation, thecorner portion between said edges being cut away and having an arcuaterecess formed in and constituting a notch in the edge where the portionis cut away, the recess extending from face to face of the plate, ahinge fitting for the door comprising means providing a pintleconnection disposed in the space provided by the cut-away portion, saidmeans having plates engaging opposite faces of the glass plate and a keyelement between the plates and fitting into the arcuate recess andpreventing, the retraction of the fitting by force exerted in thedirection of extension of said non-vertical edge, the various portionsof the fitting being joined together into a unit gripping the edge ofthe door.

2. A door as defined in claim 1 in which the plate of glass is temperedto such degree that upon rupture of the surface thereof it willautomatically shatter into small rounded fragments.

3. A door structure comprising a plate of tempered glass having twovertically aligned corners out away'to provide non-vertical edges,arcuate recesses formed in the edges, the recesses being of diameters atleast equal to the thickness of the glass plates, clamping plates uponopposite sides of the glass plate and covering the portions of the glasswhich are cut away, metallic spacing elements disposed in said portionsbetween the plate, and being formed to receive hinge pintles and boltsextending through the clamping plates and being disposed in thesemicircular recesses.

4. A door structure as defined in claim 1 in which the plate of glass istempered, and the recesses are of a diameter at least equal to thethickness of said plate.

5. A door construction embodying a monolithic panel of tempered glasshaving an arcuate indentation so formed in an edge thereof that portionsof the panel project above the indentation upon both sides thereof, saidindentation extending from face to face of the panel, plates coveringthe indentation and gripping the panel, and means secured between theplates and projecting into the indentation to lock the plates againstdisplacement in the direction in which the edge extends.

6. A door structure comprising a monolithic plate of glass havingvertical and non-vertical edges disposed in intersecting relation, buthaving the corner portion between said edges cut away and having anarcuate recess formed in and constituting a notch in the edge "where theportion is cut away, the recess extending from face to face of theplate, a hardware fitting for the door comprising means providing aconnection for a pin constituting a connection between the door and amarginal portion of a doorway of a building, disposed in the spaceformed by the cut-away portion, holding plates secured upon oppositefaces of the plate of glass and maintaining said means in the space, akey element between the' plates and. being disposed in the arcuaterecess to prevent the retraction of the fitting by force exerted in thedirection of extension of said non-vertical edge, the various portionsof the fitting being joined together into a unit embracing and holdingthe edge of the door.

GEORGE F. ERATH.

